The mutual arising of opposites is one of the more powerful ideas I’ve come across. I first heard it in talks by Alan Watts about Zen on KPFK in Los Angeles.
The mutual arising of opposites implies many things. It means the pairs mentioned below arise together, which can be incredibly calming. It means you gain both at the same time. It lets you slip into and out of time at the same time! Funny! And other things too.
Some mutually arising pairs: Chaos and order. Breathing poorly and breathing well. Fairness and unfairness. Stillness and busyness. Sense and nonsense. Invoke one and you also get the other. So don’t be afraid of either. They come together. Embrace both.
This also helps solve the problem of not having enough time. Accept you don’t have time, and you have time.
More mutually arising opposites pairs: Starting over and moving ahead. Fear and courage. Motion and stillness. Perfection and imperfection. Wealth and poverty. Near and far. Now and not now. Tension and relaxation. Organization and disorganization. Fullness and emptiness. Good posture and bad posture. Good grammar and bad. It’s a constant dance between these pairs. To experience one you need the other. It’s an oscillation. The faster the oscillation, or perhaps the more entangled they are, the more magic.
The only danger perhaps is getting stuck on one of a pair of mutual arising opposites. I guess the trick to getting unstuck might be to remember that if you have one of a pair, you have the opposite as well, and to increase the oscillation or entanglement.
I think mutual arising is one reason I liked skiing so much. You are constantly playing with, and on the brink of, disaster and control. And why I needed to quit for a while – it had become too predictable.
~ Proxri Deal: As you find our relationship rewarding, proxri with the proximity in mind. ~
David Loughry 